4 DAIRYING 



than is its per cent of cream or the amount of solid food it con- 

 tains. 



671. An enormous amount of milk is consumed in the 

 United States every year. It has been estimated that the milk 

 sold from house to house, the so-called market milk, is equal to 

 the production of about 7,600,000 cows, and that used in butter- 

 making 9,700,000 cows, and in cheese-making 800,000 cows. If 

 has also been estimated by the Illinois Experiment Station that 

 the 2,000,000 inhabitants of the city of Chicago consume over ten 

 tons of dirt every year in their milk. These figures are startling 

 although they are undoubtedly true, and while a little filth 

 dropping into the milk pail may not seem to amount to much to 

 the milker at the time, it is contributing to the tons of dirt that 

 are being unconsciously consumed every day in our milk supply. 



A realizing sense of the truth of such statements as the fore- 

 going, as well as the frequent proof that contagious diseases have 

 been spread by means of milk, makes people in some localities 

 willing to pay 12 to 20 cents per quart for milk which they know 

 is perfectly pure and clean. The increasing number of sanitary 

 milk-producing farms, where milk is simply protected from 

 disease, dust and dirt to such an extent that it will keep sweet 

 for weeks, is certainly an indication of the advancement of civili- 

 zation. 



672. It is a well known fact that most of the milk brought 

 to creameries and cheese factories will not keep sweet for more 

 than one day in warm weather. The reason why this milk spoils 

 so quickly is also well known. It is not the fault of the cows; 

 they are innocent of any wrongdoing; it is the person who feeds 

 ?nd milks the cows that is responsible for the dirt in the milk. 

 If the milk producer wants a higher price than he is now re- 

 ceiving for his milk, no matter to whom he is selling it, the surest 

 way for him to accomplish this is to keep the milk clean ; there 

 is always a good demand for pure milk and when a factory re- 

 ceives such milk, the butter, the cheese or the cream it sells will 

 be so improved in quality that a higher price can be demanded 

 for it than those products made from impure milk. Persons 

 buying such milk will be glad to pay an extra price for it. This 



